Nittany Lions set to battle a potent Ohio State offense

Mike Yurcich spent only one season as a member of Ohio State’s coaching staff, but his impact on the Buckeyes’ offense will be felt in Beaver Stadium on Saturday. 

Now in his second year as Penn State’s offensive coordinator, Yurcich is set to face a challenge of his own making: He must find a way to keep pace with an Ohio State offense orchestrated by C.J. Stroud, a player he helped bring to Columbus. 

“He had a huge hand in recruiting C.J.,” Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day recalled earlier this week. “I remember he and I were out in California recruiting, and I was supposed to be at the Home Depot [College Football] Awards, which I missed. We got in trouble that night because I wasn’t there. I think they wanted to fine us for that, but we were doing a home visit with C.J. Stroud, so they can fine us whatever they want.” 

An On3 Consensus four-star prospect out of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., Stroud signed with Ohio State less than a week after that visit in December 2019. He’s now entering the homestretch of his second season as the starting quarterback, and in keeping with recent Buckeye history, he’s contending for the Heisman Trophy while spearheading his team’s push to make the College Football Playoff.

Among the national leaders

Second-ranked Ohio State heads to Penn State averaging 517.4 yards and 49.6 points per game. It ranks fourth in the FBS in the former category and second in the latter, and Stroud has been the key. He’s put together a gaudy statistical portfolio: a 70 percent completion rate, 2,188 yards, 28 touchdowns and just 4 interceptions. 

What’s more, he’s done it even as the Buckeyes have struggled with injuries to some of their most dangerous offensive players. Receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba has seen action in only three games so far due to a hamstring injury he suffered on opening day against Notre Dame, while running backs TreVeyon Henderson and Miyan Williams have both been banged up at times.

Smith-Njigba has been getting healthy, but the Buckeyes have been careful to bring him along slowly. He was on a “pitch count” against Iowa last week. The coaches were looking to use him on only about 20 snaps, and he finished with just 1 catch for 7 yards. The idea is to gradually increase his workload in the weeks ahead, but Day declined to say how much the junior wideout will be expected to play against Penn State. 

Last week’s game didn’t showcase the Ohio State offense at its best. The Buckeyes rushed for just 66 yards, and their longest run from scrimmage was a 13-yard carry by Williams. Four times in the first half they had to settle for field goals on drives that reached inside the Iowa 25-yard line.

At his presser this week, Day was asked several times about that performance and what it might say about the Buckeyes’ future. He admitted to some lukewarm feelings about how his team had played.

“There was good and there was bad,” Day said. “The issues were always there, but when you play against a better defense, those issues come to the surface more. We’ll keep pushing and keep trying to address it so that we get better every week.”

It bears mentioning that Ohio State scored 54 points. Even with Smith-Njigba playing just 22 snaps and the running backs struggling to create a complementary threat, Stroud still threw for 286 yards and 4 touchdowns, and the Buckeyes scored 38 unanswered points over the final 34 minutes.  

Fleming emerges as receiving threat

One of the stars of the game was Julian Fleming, a former five-star receiver prospect from Catawissa, Pa., whom Penn State wanted badly but wasn’t able to sign. In his past four games, Fleming has caught 14 passes for 304 yards and 4 touchdowns, helping make up for Smith-Njigba’s absence. For the season, Fleming, Marvin Harrison Jr. and Emeka Egbuka have combined to make 96 catches for 1,660 yards and 23 scores.

That’s what James Franklin is bracing for as Penn State tries to break a five-game losing streak in the series. “They do a great job, got a ton of weapons,” Franklin said. “Some people are saying their quarterback is leading the Heisman votes at this stage. They are challenging not only through scheme but also the weapons they have.”